The Veteran's claim for an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for coronary artery disease (CAD) is denied as the evidence does not show that his condition results in more than one episode of acute congestive heart failure or a workload capacity of greater than 5.0 METs but not greater than 7.0 METs resulting in dyspnea, fatigue, angina, dizziness, or syncope.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's left ventricular ejection fraction was 55-60 percent and his symptoms did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under any applicable diagnostic codes.
- Claimed conditions
- Coronary artery disease (CAD), Ischemic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- January 5, 2024
- Citation
- 24001023
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 793 · Granted: 28% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 24001023.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an initial rating of 30 percent prior to July 18, 2014, and a higher than 60 percent rating thereafter for ischemic heart disease is being remanded due to incomplete evidence. The examiner needs to provide more detailed information about the severity of his service-connected condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for SMC based on aid and attendance from June 1, 2011, to May 24, 2017, finding that his need for regular aid and attendance was not established during this period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's current coronary artery disease with acute, subacute, or old myocardial infarction with coronary stent is being remanded for further evaluation due to the lack of a medical nexus between his service-connected hypertension and his heart condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an earlier effective date and increased rating for ischemic heart disease due to a failure by the AOJ to request SSA records, which were not available.
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